Pilot visible, or not visible

[Guest Pencil pusher]

Is there a simple fix? I have an animated pilot - a much modified gmax Jenny pilot.I have merged him into my aircraft in gmax and yes there he is in external and in the VC. Question - how do I surpress him in the VC but still leave him visible in the external view. The MS Piper Cub does it (with an even better pilot), but there are no clues as to how it is achieved.I am running FS9 & gmax.RegardsKeith

[Guest Firestriker]

Can't you simply leave the pilot out of the VC model?

[Guest Pencil pusher]

Thats my problem - I don't know how, because pilot is enabled (at the moment) by merging in gmax, so .x files incorporate him in the .mdl files etc.Keith

[n4gix 4,947]

In GMax your parts should be organized by "exterior" and "interior" nodes, or...if the original designer is "old school" [exterior] and [interior] groups.If the latter, then simply "Open" (not Ungroup!) the [interior] Group and delete the parts that are used for the pilot...

[Guest Pencil pusher]

Bill,Thanks for info. I had tried before to group interior & exterior in my 'early days' of learning gmax, & before using MDL Commander, without success. I currently do not group, so I will now have another go. If I can ge it to work, it might solve another problem on another project, where I need to separate devices.RegardsKeith

[n4gix 4,947]

>Bill,>Thanks for info. I had tried before to group interior &>exterior in my 'early days' of learning gmax, & before using>MDL Commander, without success. I currently do not group, so I>will now have another go. If I can ge it to work, it might>solve another problem on another project, where I need to>separate devices.>Regards>KeithI hope you are NOT using ModelCommander's "automatic VC" feature!That's a neat feature to use during development, since one can build the outside and inside at the same time, but we truly must separate the outside and inside into two, separate "exterior" and "interior" sets of parts.

[Guest Pencil pusher]

Bill,I am afraid that I am using the VC auto feature! It was the only way that I could initially get inside the aircraft!Could you please explain why I should separate the two (apart from my recent quest to hide a feature?) BTW I have yet to create separate groups to hide the pilot in my VC, as I am still tweaking little bits that I am not happy with - thats what comes of being a British ex- experimental development engineer, we never know when to stop fiddling!RegardsKeith

[n4gix 4,947]

>Bill,>I am afraid that I am using the VC auto feature! It was the>only way that I could initially get inside the aircraft!>Could you please explain why I should separate the two (apart>from my recent quest to hide a feature?)The reason is performance! Why on earth have the sim waste valuable resources drawing polys on screen that are never going to be seen?Can you see the bottoms of the wings, flaps, ailerons, outside fuselage skin from the VC?Can you see the landing gear from the VC?After I've finished the "interior" part of the "external model," I select/clone all parts, then Link the clones to a new, "interior" dummy node.I can then simplify the new "interior" model's parts, deleting the ones that will never be seen, and simplying the mesh for the remaining parts so that only those which CAN be seen from any VC position remain.I also "simplfy" the "exterior" model's parts to eliminate unnecessary detail from the cockpit/cabin area. Sometimes I even replace the entire panel with a static bitmap (eliminate the gauges entirely!), unless it's a very simple GA model where the panel can be seen clearly from Spot View.

[Guest Pencil pusher]

Bill,Thank you very much for your explanation. I must admit that I do not have a processing problem, (thanks to my son), and that I have been able to set all textures and scenery to the highest level without any 'stuttering'. My poly count is I admit quite high at the moment ~17k, so if and when I make it available to others they might have a problem I suppose if their processing power is low.Again thanks for your time and explanations, and if you wish I would like to compress the aircraft & send it to you for criticism in the next month or two - work for wife & visitors permitting of course!RegardsKeith